Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Hearing on new food truck rules today

When it comes to food trucks in Spokane, pretty much everyone involved is blazing a new path of one sort or the other. Many truck owners are breaking out of the brick-and-mortar restaurant business for the first time, and city officials and inspectors aren't always sure how to regulate this spontaneous new form of dining.

Earlier this month we told you about the city's Mobile Food Vendor Project, an effort to streamline the complicated rules and regulations around mobile food and encourage more food trucks, trailers and carts in the city. Today in City Council Chambers at 5 pm the city's Plan Commission will hold a hearing on proposed new rules. The food truck ordinance would institute new license types that would, among other things, require vendors to pay for each location where they plan to sell on top of their basic permits. If the commission supports the new rules, it could pass the ordinance on to the City Council for consideration.